Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood Services submitted the undernoted report:

 

1.0       Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1            The main purpose of this report is:

 

·        Inform Members that Council has received the Letter of Offer for the Community Support Programme 2025/26 from the Department for Communities (DfC).  The Department has provided an uplift of 9% across certain elements of the programme.

·        Seek agreement from members on the options to allocate the additional funding provided based on the detail provided in the report. 

 

2.0       Recommendation

 

2.1       Members are asked to:

 

                                            I.           Agree the preferred option relating to the Community Support General additional funding. (Table 2)

                                           II.           Agree the preferred option for the reprofiling of the budget for Advice and Tribunal services. (Table 3)

                                         III.           Agree the proposed additional funding allocation for: Community Support General, Advice Grant and Welfare Reform Mitigations Extension-Tribunal Representation.

 

3.0       Main Report

 

Background

 

3.1       A report on the Letter of Offer received from the Department of Communities Department for Communities (DfC) Letter of Offer Community Support Programme 2024/25 was considered at the August meeting of the People and Communities Committee.

 

3.2       Members had asked that the following elements of the paper be referred to the August meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee for consideration

 

1.             Options relating to the Community Support General additional funding (outlined in Table 2)

 

2.             Options for the reprofiling of the budget for Advice and Tribunal services (outlined in Table 3)

 

3.             Note the proposed additional funding allocation for: Community Support General, Advice Grant, Welfare Reform Mitigations Extension-Tribunal Representation which are captured under points 1 and 2 above.

 

3.3         Members will be aware that the Department for Communities (DfC) provides an annual grant to Council through its Community Support Programme (CSP) Letter of Offer. This funding provides an element of the budget towards Capacity Building, Revenue for Community Building grant, Summer Scheme Grant as well as Generalist Advice. It also provides 100% funding for Social Supermarkets.

 

3.4         Council received the CSP 2024/25 Letter of Offer from DfC on 13 June 2025.  There is an increase to this year’s funding across several new and existing elements. 

 

Additional Funding by CSP Heading

 

3.5         Table 1 illustrates the additional 9% uplift and available budgets under the relevant headings to be considered by SP & R.

 

Table 1

 

CSP Heading	Additional Funds 2025/26
1.      Community Support General	£82,007.26
2.      Advice Grant	£60,108.77
3.      Welfare Reform Mitigations Extension Tribunal Representation- Appeals	£6,960.79

 

3.6       Proposed Allocation of Additional Funds

 

It is proposed that additional funding for elements 1-3 should be allocated using the approaches outlined below. Further detail is provided in Appendices 1-3

 

1. Community Support General

 

3.7       Members are asked to consider and agree their preferred option for allocating the additional funding provided under the Community Support General heading (£82,007.26) as outlined in Table 2. Further detail on the organisations funded through Capacity and Revenue awards is provided in Appendix 1

 

Table 2

 

Option	Description	Pro	Con
1	Allocate all the additional funding £82,007.26 to the 43 Capacity funded groups.  Each group will receive a non-recurrent payment of £1,907.15	Capacity grant funding enables the provision of training, development and support programmes provided by 43 organisations to smaller organisations within communities. The funding contributes to staff and  programme delivery running costs.  As employers, Capacity funded groups have seen an increase in staff related costs this past year particularly in relation to National Insurance Contributions.  They have also seen an increase to the costs running costs of their programmes.   At Committee in March 2025, members agreed to double the funding allocation received by Revenue funded groups from a maximum of £20,629 in 2024/25 to £41,258 2025/26.  Capacity funded organisations did not receive an uplift, this option would provide an increase in funding to these organisations.	Revenue organisations do not have access to these additional funds.
2	Allocate the funding to Revenue and Capacity funded groups.  130 organisations will receive a non-recurrent payment of £630.83	Revenue and Capacity organisations will receive additional funding to meet their running costs and provide services.	This option does not take into account the fact that revenue funded groups have already received a significant uplift for 25/26.
3	Use the funding to offset the council allocation that was used to double the revenue awards in 25/26.	This would offset the significant council investment that was made to double revenue awards in 25/26.	This option would not provide any additional support to funded organisations.

 

3.8       Appendix 1 provides a revised allocation for Capacity and Revenue based on options 1 and 2 above.

 

3.9       Members will be aware that this is the final year of awards of Capacity and Revenue Grants 2023-2026 in its current form. An open call for our new Large Grant programme 2026-2029 was launched on 28 July.

 

2. Advice Grant and Provision for Appeals.

 

3.10     Members will recall the Council agreed to provide £270,000 on a recurrent basis for the provision of an Appeals and Tribunal Service in the City.  At Council in July, members agreed to extend the provision of the Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service (BCTS) provided by Ligoniel Improvement Association on behalf of the Belfast Advice Group (BAG) to the end of March 2026.  Members also agreed that future services will be procured and for Officers to begin the process with the contract awarded and provider in place for April 2026.

 

3.11     This year DfC provided an allocation of £84,302.81 towards the provision of Appeals and Tribunal Services.  Including Council’s contribution of £270,000 the total available budget is £354,302.81.  BCTS requested £242,000 which was agreed by Council in July.  Thus, there is a potential underspend in the budget of £112, 302.81.

 

3.12     Funding relating to Advice and Appeals is a specific element of the Community Support Programme and ringfenced for the provision of related services. The review of Advice services which council completed in December 23 highlighted the rising delivery and staffing costs experienced by advice organisations, this additional funding will support organisations to address these issues. Members may also wish that a consultation on the DfC regional review of advice services opened on 11th August, further detail on this will be presented to P&C committee at a later date. Members are asked to consider the reprofiling of the budget and agree a preferred option presented in Table 3 below.

 

            Table 3

 

Option	Description	Pro	Con
1	Redistribute the £112,302.81 providing an uplift for Generalist Advice and Appeals to the five area-based Advice Consortia using Council’s allocation model. (Table 4 below)	Council currently funds 5 Area based Advice consortia that includes 14 independent advice providers in 19 locations and additional cover via extensive outreach provision.      Providers have expressed concerns regarding the growing costs relating to staff such as National Insurance Contributions and operating overheads.    Staff retention has posed a significant problem for advice providers. Due to short-term contracts and lower salary compared to other agencies such as Housing Associations   Providers have also discussed the growing need for the provision of services that meet the needs of more complex cases and also  of a growing population who do not have English as a first language. An additional non-recurrent allocation for this year will provide the Advice providers with sufficient resources to maintain their current level of staff, meet increased overheads and provide additional resources to meet the growing demand for services on complex cases as well as for people who require additional support such as translation services.	The demand for services and complexity of dealing with multiple needs is growing. This greatly impacts on the level of service provision.  The additional funding is short-term  for 2025/26 on a non-recurrent basis.  Next year the provision may return to its current level thus the service capacity of the organisations will reduce.  Providing funding for 1 may lead to a higher dependency of the providers on Council funding and of people on the service.  A demand that may be inflated with the provision of additional support this year.   The providers may use some funding to increase its staff salaries and off set NIC.  This increase may lead to an unmanageable cost next year
2	Redistribute the £112,302.81 ·        providing an uplift for Generalist Advice and Appeals to the five area-based Advice Consortia using Council’s allocation model. (Table 4 below) up to £85,302.81.and allocating the remaining £27,000 towards the procurement process ensuring that contingencies are in place to effectively transition from current funding to contracted service provision e.g. costs to transfer service user records and systems from the current to the new provider.  Grant permission to the Director of Neighbourhood Services to make further allocations to the generalist advice services should the budget provision of up to £27,000 not be used.	As Above             This is the final year of the current arrangement for the Tribunal Service.  From April 2026 the service will be provided by a contracted organisation following a procurement process.  It is envisaged that the provider will be secured by December 2026.  The current provider has extensive case records and systems in place for maintaining the records.  The provider is also dealing with an extensive caseload that may take longer to complete beyond the 31 March 2026. This allocation will provide Council with an opportunity to manage the transition from the current funding arrangements to the new contract.  It may cover items such as transfer of Casefiles and systems, current caseloads, issues relating to GDPR.	As Above             It is £27,000 that can be used for direct service provision.

 

3.13     In relation to the Advice Grant, DfC has provided an uplift of £60,108.77 for the provision of Generalist Advice Services.  Members are asked to allocate the uplift based on Council’s current advice grant funding model. 

 

3.14     Table 4 below presents the level of additional funding each Area Based Advice Consortia will receive this year for the uplift and budget reprofile options.  The additional funding is non-recurrent.

 

    Table 4

 

Area Consortium	Council’s Funding Allocation Model	Advice Grant Uplift	Additional Budget Reprofile Option 1	Additional Budget Reprofile Option 2
Central	9%	£5,381.69	£9,953.06	£7,560.13
East	14%	£8,628.51	£16,229.47	£12,327.66
North	26%	£15,556.90	£29,063.05	£22,075.67
South	15%	£9,259.96	£17,299.22	£13,140.11
West	35%	£21,281.71	£39,752.01	£30,199.34

 

3.15     Appendix 2 provides details of the revised allocation for each Consortium based on uplift plus Options 1 and 2.

 

3.     Welfare Reform Mitigations Extension Tribunal Representation - Appeals

 

3.16     Members are asked to note the increase of £6,960.79 towards the provision of tribunal and appeals and agree the allocation be used for the Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service.

 

3.17     Financial Implications

 

All awards listed in the appendices can be made in line with existing budgets for 2025/26. Members should note that the Capacity and Revenue awards are multi annual awards from 23/26.

 

3.18     Equality or Good Relations Implications

and Rural Needs Assessment

 

            This will be considered throughout, and any appropriate issues highlighted to Members.  Any amendments to existing scheme or new scheme will be considered in the context of any equality/good relations and rural needs considerations.

 

            The Committee:

 

(i)          agreed to Option 2 relating to the Community Support General additional funding (Table 2);

 

(ii)         agreed to Option 2 for the reprofiling of the budget for Advice and Tribunal services (Table 3); and

 

(iii)       agreed the proposed additional funding allocation for: Community Support General, Advice Grant and Welfare Reform Mitigations Extension-Tribunal Representation.